Exclamation marks, locating files etc....

I recently transferred my whole itunes library over to my new computer.
I'm pretty sure that allthe files were transferred successfully, because I saw it happen.
But now, a lot of my files can't be located and I get the exclamation mark next to the song title.
There are so many in there, but I don't want to have to manually locate each individual file.
Is there something I can do which will highllight all the 'exclamation mark' files for me to use as a guide?
Also, what will consolodating my itunes library do? Will this be of any help?
Thanks for any info you can give me.
Stressed.....

No, you did not literally lose your music. It is located on your harddrive, iTunes just lost the file path to reference them. iTunes never physically holds your music, thats stored on the harddrive. Just search your harddrive and try to reimport them back over.
Always let iTunes manage your music. To do this: Click on iTunes in the task bar, and click on Preferences. Then Click on the General Tab and make sure the Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized is checked. It may say something a bit different in Windows. I am on a Mac and it varies just a bit.
Post back if you need some more help. We can walk thru all the steps together.
Rachyl

Similar Messages

Deleting all exclamation mark'ed files in itunes

Hi,
I understand that exclamation marked files in iTunes are basically broken links. I have quite a few and I'm much too lazy to fix them or delete them all one by one. Is there a function in iTunes to delete all exclamation marked references in one fell swoop?

Download this: http://ottodestruct.com/itunes/RemoveDeadTracks.txt (right click and Save As).
Rename it to "RemoveDeadTracks.js".
Run it like you run any other program.
It'll remove all the ! entries from your iTunes library.

Big fat library mess: duplicates / can't locate files / etc.

Hi,
I have several issues. Failed to find my answers online in forums here. Help requested.
Recently migrated from another Mac. Moved library manually. 2 issues going on.
1. In the actual media folder where the songs are stored, each artist>album folder has duplicate song files (ending in 1.mp4). These duplicates need to be cleaned up in bulk and mass deleted.
2. I successfully exported my old playlists and reimported them into new system and they show up fine in iTunes. When I click on one of the tunes though I get the familiar "song could not be used because original file could not be found" and the ! icon appears. This is a commonly discussed issue. However common solutions don't seem to apply.
When I click "locate" from this dialog box and manually go to the tune, it plays fine after that. So then, how can I do this for the entire library to avoid doing this 1200 times?
These common solutions don't seem to be the best path.
1. Consolidating library. Library location is already pointing correctly inside of preferences.
2. Opening itunes while holding down option key. When I do this, and then select "Choose library" and navigate to my media folder, I get a notice that the "itunes library file" can't be found.
Any more solutions out there? Why do I hate itunes file mgt. so much? I'm actually a technical person. Have wasted hours on this.
As a nuclear option... Is there a way I can uninstall itunes completely and start from scratch?
Thanks,
Mike

1. In the actual media folder where the songs are stored, each artist>album folder has duplicate song files (ending in 1.mp4). These duplicates need to be cleaned up in bulk and mass deleted.
[Dougscripts|http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/scriptcount.php?sortBy=Name&o p=y] - Many itunes scripts, including various ones for dealing with duplicates in various forms. The best way is not to just handle them in bulk form. I have some "duplicates" that are really very different versions of the same work by the same artist and I would not want them automatically deleted on this basis. Some of my duplicates are also the same track on different albums, and again I need both copies in order to keep both albums intact.
2. I successfully exported my old playlists and reimported them into new system and they show up fine in iTunes. When I click on one of the tunes though I get the familiar "song could not be used because original file could not be found" and the ! icon appears. This is a commonly discussed issue. However common solutions don't seem to apply.
When I click "locate" from this dialog box and manually go to the tune, it plays fine after that. So then, how can I do this for the entire library to avoid doing this 1200 times?
There isn't a single simple solution to this. Solutions follow two paths. One is to get your old library working (which you seem to have tried). The other is to simply create a new library and start all over again, losing some things such as playlists, play counts, ratings in the process.
As a nuclear option... Is there a way I can uninstall itunes completely and start from scratch?
Are all your music files in pretty much one folder or series of folders? If they are you could just start itunes with a new, blank library by holding down the option key, then drag all your files to the library window.

What does an exclamtion mark on files mean?

What does an exclamation mark on files mean?

Thank you. It occurred to me that the connection to my external drive might
be the issue and it was, even though I had not physically disconnected it.
Thank you for your response.
email: [email protected]

Can't access songs in iTunes. There are exclamation marks on about half of my library. When I try to play them I get: "Can't find the file" notice and iTunes asks me to locate each song. Why is this happening and how can I fix it?

I had not opened my iTunes in weeks. When I opened it today, most of the songs in my library had exclamation marks beside them and when I clicked on them got the message: "the song could not be used because the original file cannot be found", then asks me if I want to locate it. When I press "locate" tab I am led to iTunes folders and have to hunt around for the song. Some songs I can't find in the folders. Any ideas as to why this is happening and what I can do to fix it?
Help would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
PE

The problem of tracks becoming de-linked between iTunes and the music files in your iTunes music folder happens for different reasons - this seems to come up fairly commonly in this forum.
The solution can be to locate each song in the iTunes library, as you mentioned - or, but wait, before I get to that...
trouble finding the original track in your iTunes music folder? maybe look for it under compilations, or if not using the 'group compilations preference' then look in the folder under the songs artist name, but what song artist name iTunes uses depends on what you have in the metedata tag spot for album artist or song artist. Any varyation in artist name spelling, in the menu item 'get info' metadata for any selected individual track will cause iTunes to create that as a separate artist folder in the library, even names like 'various' or any difference at all (even the word 'the' can change where in your iTunes music folder a track gets placed by iTunes). You can try to use the finder function of find file (finder munu item outside of iTunes) to locate hard to find items.
Back to how to re-link any de-linked tracks .
There may be scripts that can help re-link de-linked music files - or, at least provide you a list of such files, Scripts are easy to install and use...
at Dougs Scripts, there is one called iTunes Track CPR that might work
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=itunestrackcpr
or, if you just want a list of de-linked tracks, go to
http://dougscripts.com/itunes/
and find the script called List MIA's, this will create a text file listing all de-linked tracks
if you review the thread at
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3633708
also the thread at
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17513078#17513078
you may find more insight into dealing with this kind of issue there, although some of that thread may not apply to your case, aspects of it might help.
Good luck.

Hi, All my music files have an exclamation mark on the left and when I tunes asks me to locate a window opens with I Tunes folders but I still cant see my music library . What can i do? Thanks

Hi, All my music files have an exclamation mark on the left and when I tunes asks me to locate a window opens with I Tunes folders but I still cant see my music library . What can i do? Thanks

The red exclamation mark indicates that itunes cannot find your files.
Are the music files still on your harddrive. Look n Finder
Username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media
If the files are there then keep the option key pressed and open iTunes. A dialog box will open asking you to choose your library. Select Choose and then navigate to the Music/iTunes Folder and click OK

I'm finding that songs that I have imported to Itunes are suddenly showing with "Exclamation" marks and Itunes tells me that the original file cannot be found. When I tell it to locate the file, it can't do it.

I'm finding that songs that I have imported into Itunes and played before are suddenly showing an"Exclamation" mark and Itunes tells me that the original file cannot be found. When I tell it to locate the file, it can't do it. I went to the Itunes help for locating files, but that still won't do it. It seems that somehow they are getting deleted, but not by me that I know of.
Can anyone help me?

Maybe you rename it. Somehow the path to the songs have changed if not deleted.
In Finder go to "Macintosh/Users/username/music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music" that's where all your songs located so if those songs are not there you get an exclamation mark. You can delete those entries in iTunes and re-import again.

Moving iTunes to new account, new disk location, exclamation marks

I have been using an iTunes storage that was copied (rsync) from one computer with one user to another computer with another user. Using ACL's I had made certain that both users could access the library and that worked.
But somehow my last couple of actions have damaged this setup and I don't know how and I don't know how to get a working setup back.
The setup normally was that ~/Music/iTunes for users was a symlink to /Users/Shared/iTunes. Thought it says shared, it is just used by that one user. I have located that on /Users/Shared because the home directories are protected with FileVault and I did not want to burden FileVault with the entire iTunes library. This worked fine.
On the laptop (which was my main iTunes workhorse) I had a rsync command to sync my iTunes stuff to a server (as backup) as Portable Home DIrectories would not sync it as it was located outside the home directory. This worked for years.
Now, instead I want to move this library to another dedicated server account (music) which is then shared to the laptop/desktops using Home Sharing. This I created and it worked. A few weeks ago I migrated from an old 10.5 Server to a new 10.6 Server and it still worked.
Now, yesterday, I decided to clean stuff up. Originally I had been using my self-compiled rsync that could handle extended attributes (from the official rsync distribution). But I noticed that some songs were not synced to the server. So, I tried Apple's own rsync and that did better, it synced all kinds of files that were missing on the server end. I used ditto and rsync to move stuff around on my machines with the goal to have the iTunes folder on /Users/Shared/iTunes owned by user music but through ACL's also accessible for other users in case I had to move stuff there from other machines.
Now, today I started up iTunes as user music on the Server and though my whole library is visible and all my playlists and smart playlists and settings are there, every song has an exclamation mark because iTunes cannot find it. If I locate the individual songs it works fine, but then iTunes cannot find the rest on the basis of that. And locating thousands of tracks by hand is not an option.
Starting over again also seems problematic. I can start again, but them I lose all my playlists and smart playlists etc.
Any tips on what might work to get this broken setup repaired?

This solved my problem:
- Remove rsynced iTunes directory and re-rsync from other computer
(This this not help, but maybe without it the rest would not have helped)
- Remove iTunes Preferences
- Restart iTunes
(Now it worked again, I had to make a few fixes)
- Deauthorize and reauthorize computer
- Reconnect to iTunes Store account
- Reset preferences
Message was edited by: Gerben Wierda

Re iphoto: when I double click on a thumbnail i get e grey screen with exclamation mark..can't access my photos to edit, order prints etc

Was wondering if anyone can help...I am not very computer friendly but want to be able to edit my photos, use them as jpegs, order prints etc. When I double click on a thumbnail ( am presuming the thumbnails are the small photos ) I get a grey screen with an exclamation mark on it. I cannot drag the thumbnail onto the desk top it just pings back. This doesn't happen with all the thumbnails and has been a problem since we upgraded to snowleopard. I recently reinstalled photos from the memory card from my camera and they are alright. I am presuming that the old photos are stuck in there somewhere if only I knew the right buttons to press to get them out. Thanks, Jane Thomas

Easiest: Restore from your back up.
Otherwise:
Try these in order - from best option on down...
1. Do you have an up-to-date back up? If so, try copy the library6.iphoto file from the back up to the iPhoto Library allowing it to overwrite the damaged file.
2. Download <a href="http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/"><b><u>iPhoto Library Manager</b></u></a> and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
3. If neither of these work then you'll need to create and populate a new library.
To create and populate a new *iPhoto 6* library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Rolls and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Roll Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.

I can't get my music to play in my itunes. It comes with a exclamation mark next to the song numbers and says that the original songs can't be played cause cant find the file. How do I get the songs back? (I found the files)

I can't get my music to play in my itunes. It comes with a exclamation mark next to the song numbers and says that the original songs can't be played cause cant find the file. How do I get the songs back? (I found the files

You get exclamation marks or dead tracks because iTunes can’t find the file. This can happen for a number of reasons:
The song file or a folder in its path was renamed
The song file or the folder it is in has been moved
The song file has been deleted
The device containing the song files e.g. external drive is not accessible or the drive letter has changed.
If you use an external drive, a change in drive letter is a common cause and you need to change it back.
AS a way of working out what has happened, right click on a track and select the summary tab (you will have to go past an error message). The summary tab will tell you where iTunes thinks the track is located. How does that compare with where the track actually is?
The xml library file is not used by iTunes, it is created to allow other programs to access the library. You can recreate the iTl file from the xml file, but there is no point if the location of the files is wrong.
There is a simple way of getting you music back in iTunes, but it loses all playlists counts and rating. To do this drag iTunes library.itl and iTunes Library.xml to your desktop. Then open iTunes and an empty library is created. Add you iTunes Media folder to it.
If you can't work out what went wrong and how to fix it, you may have to do this.

I downloaded the new version of iTunes and now over 100 songs have an exclamation mark beside them and won't play. The message says: "The song ... could not be used because the original file could not be found." How do I get these songs back?

I downloaded the new version of iTunes and now over 100 songs have an exclamation mark beside them and won't play. The message says: "The song ... could not be used because the original file could not be found." How do I get these songs back?

Presuming they're on your computer, right click on them and then follow the prompts to locate hte file on your computer.

Songs w/exclamation marks that won't play "file can't be found" Why??

I am getting inundated with more and more songs daily, with exclamation marks beside them, stating "the original file can't be located". It asks if I want to recover the file,I answer yes, but nothing seems to happen! I am a DJ and rely heavily on iTunes and will be extremely disabling for me if I can't get this figured out. Unfortunately, I am not a computer whiz, and would really appreciate all help I could get. I have weddings scheduled for this coming week end and really don't know what to do!
THANK YOU

It's lengthy, but not too complicated. When you tell it that you want to restore, make sure to show it where to look to find the file. Double click the file and move on to the next exclamation file. One after another, Takes time, but can be fixed. Another problem that continues to make iTunes difficult and lame.
Sly

I have just downloaded itunes 10.6 and in the process my "podcast" option under library has disappeared! The files are still on my laptop. I can also see some of my recorded music in my itunes library but can play them - there is an exclamation mark next

I have just downloaded itunes 10.6 and in the process my "podcast" option under library has disappeared! THe files are still on my laptop. I can also see some of my recorded music in the itunes library but can't play them - there is an exclamation mark next to each track. Basically I can't use itunes - is the only option remove and replace? Thanks in advance

Visibility of the Podcasts section is controlled from within the Edit > Preferences dialog.
Empty/corrupt library after upgrade/crash
Hopefully it's not been too long since you last upgraded iTunes, in fact if you get an empty/incomplete library immediately after upgrading then with the following steps you shouldn't lose a thing or need to do any further housekeeping. In the Previous iTunes Libraries folder should be a number of dated iTunes Library files. Take the most recent of these and copy it into the iTunes folder. Rename iTunes Library.itl as iTunes Library (Corrupt).itl and then rename the restored file as iTunes Library.itl. Start iTunes. Should all be good, bar any recent additions to or deletions from your library.
See iTunes Folder Watch for a tool to catch up with any changes since the backup file was created.
Missing tracks
Typically this can happen because a file or folder is accidentally shunted to the wrong location. iTunes can also get confused if it expects to be talking to an external drive which isn't there. If will often reset the default media folder location and may have trouble finding files in the old folders.
Select one of your tracks that is missing in action. Press CTRL-I to Get Info. Cancel when asked to try to locate the file, then look at the location given on the summary tab. This where iTunes thinks the file ought to be? Now find out where it actually is. Post back the two locations for comparison. I should be able to give you some steps to reconnect everything once I can determine which of the things that might have gone wrong is most likely in your case.
When you get it all working make a backup!
tt2

Exclamation mark and the message "itunes could not find your song file

Hi everyone. I've tried doing a search but couldn't find this exact problem. I hope i'm not about to annoy everyone with a question that has been asked a thousand times before.
my problem is that every now A/some song file(s).that are already in my itunes library and played fine and synced with iphones ipod app fine. well sometimes I get this little exclamation mark on A/some song(s) in the library and the message "itunes could not find your song file would you like to locate it" and when i do and it always seems to be in what itunes find box locates first anyway.......( I'm paraphrasing...........i forget exactly what it says)........the funny thing is when i try and locate the files for itunes they are exactly where they are supposed to be........ and i've been able to put the mp3 back into the itunes library in the past, but now a certain mp3 will not show up in itunes library or play. like i said I can locate it fine, i've never renamed any folders or mp3's. other mp3's in this folder play fine , but i've had exclamation marks on some of them in the past, it seems that i know of 2 folders in my music folder that always have this problem with the mp3's in them at ramdom .
does anyone know why itunes is doing this?................it happens sometimes with downloaded music and sometimes with ripped music................sometimes a single track and sometimes just a few single tracks .........it's begining to become slighty annoying........
any help would be most appreciated.

Helpful but i was reading some posts and threads about consolidate library and it seems that if the song is not in the itunes library it will not consolidate it.i've had songs in the library that i deleted from the library and i remember getting a message when i do that action if i would like to delete it from the music folder as well ( in other words trash it completly from harddrive or do i just want to delete the song from the library and still keep it in the music folder but i guess those actions have little effect if you didn't have the song in itunes music folder,, but another folder. except for the part that it will remove the song from the library. if there was a way to consolidate your music folder(s) into the itunes folder that would be cool. and still leave your itunes library with out those songs you didn't want in there, but wanted to leave in the music folder.

If I barrow an image from iPhoto, that is drag it to another file or the desktop it seems to half disappear. It still shows until I try to enlarge it then I get a triangle exclamation mark in the enlarged field, once I return to Photos or an Album it is

If I barrow an image from iPhoto, that is drag it to another file or the desktop it seems to half disappear. It still shows until I try to enlarge it then I get a triangle exclamation mark in the enlarged field, once I return to Photos or an Album it is there. However it can no longer be dragged into another file. How can I recover these images? Is there a better way to duplicate a image to locate in outside of iPhoto?
I never had this problem in previous versions of iPhoto.

The ! turns up when iPhoto loses the link to the original file.
What version of iPhoto? Assuming 09 or later...
Option 1
Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command and option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Use the resulting dialogue to rebuild. Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.
If that fails:
Option 2
Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. (In early versions of Library Manager it's the File -> Rebuild command. In later versions it's under the Library menu.)
This will create an entirely new library. It will then copy (or try to) your photos and all the associated metadata and versions to this new Library, and arrange it as close as it can to what you had in the damaged Library. It does this based on information it finds in the iPhoto sharing mechanism - but that means that things not shared won't be there, so no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your events, albums and keywords, faces and places back.
Because this process creates an entirely new library and leaves your old one untouched, it is non-destructive, and if you're not happy with the results you can simply return to your old one.
Regards
TD

Exclamation marks, locating files etc....

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